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Only 50 years ago, the study of the mind was christened a 'science': 'cognitive science'. What has it revealed, and does a specific concept of mind, new or old, emerge from it? Have we truly accessed the domain of the mental, or are we forever targeting only its outer manifestations, that is, complex human behaviour in socio-cultural contexts? Do we know which kind of data would be relevant to an actual theory of mind?

We aim to bring together philosophers and scientists to review what has been achieved, with a view to linking the development of cognitive science in the 20th century with the earliest efforts that humans have made to understand their mental life. In effect, we wish to explore the agenda for a 'new' philosophy of mind in light of what has been learnt from cognitive science.

Some Sub-themes

To achieve some focus on this vast territory, for now we restrict attention to developments in language theory and the notion of mind that seems to underlie there. We can then ask how much of the classical concerns in the domain of the mental in fact coherently fits the grammatical conception of mind. This issue has at least four major parts.

First, are we in a position to formulate the grammatical conception of mind, say as a specific computational/generative system? How do the current paradigms in (analytical) philosophy of mind, such as functionalism, fare with respect to this conception? We would also want to know how this conception relates to those underlying classical conceptions of language/grammar in the Paninian, Aristotelian and Cartesian traditions.

Second, which other cognitive systemsâ'classically falling under the domain of the mentalâ'are likely to be covered by the conception of mind emanating from the study of language? Since studies on language and vision are the more advanced areas in cognitive science, we might ask: does the preceding conception of mind extend to the visual system, and to the domain of perceptual systems in general? Does it extend to the so-called languagelike systems of music, arithmetic, and logic?

Third, with a restricted conception of mind in hand, we would want to know if we can make sense of nonlinguistic thoughts (or thoughts without language) as falling in the domain of the mental. Supposing there to be a case for nonlinguistic thoughts-especially for nonhuman animals-which conception of mind is required to capture that domain, if at all? (if at all because we might not want to view animal 'thoughts' as requiring a concept of mind at all)

Fourth, how does the grammatical notion of mind address the issue of 'Thinking Matter'-'the presence of thought in a physical world? For example, does the conception of mind in hand cover the phenomenon of consciousness which is supposed to be a paradigmatic aspect of the mental since Descartes? In other words, is consciousnessâ'certainly shared with nonhuman animals-mental phenomenon at all from the perspective of the grammatical mind?

We emphasise two related aspects of this project: (a) it is foundational in character, (b) it is to be pursued basically as a review of contemporary philosophical and (cognitive) scientific literature from the perspective as described. In that sense, the conference is less concerned with cutting edge results in language theory, vision, music, and the like, and more with how the existing body of results cohere around a concept of mind.

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The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as
such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered
501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These
donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return
(U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact
your financial advisor.
Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match
any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your
contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the
EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple
administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without
costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company
operates such a program.
Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!